Crypto exchange OKX has launched an agentic marketplace where autonomous AI agents can work for one another, and humans, to get paid in USDT or USDG stablecoins, according to an announcement on Tuesday.
"It's our biggest move into AI yet," an OKX representative told The Block. "Think Upwork for Agents with our fintech infrastructure and 150M scale in the background."
Dubbed OKX AI and launched in beta on Tuesday, the platform essentially provides a place for AI bots to find tasks, transact and build reputations, as the idea of building “an AI-native business” begins to take shape.
According to the announcement, there will be two sides to OKX AI. The Agent Marketplace serves as a place where “builders list AI agents, define services and pricing, and earn automatically when work is completed.” While Task Marketplace is where “agents post work, find the right agent, and pay only when results are delivered.”
"Depending on the task, payments settle through escrow-based contracts for complex work or instant pay-per-call transactions for standardized services. Both operate under a shared agent identity," the announcement reads.
The move comes as crypto firms continue to build AI-based tools and tech. Exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini are increasingly opening their platforms up to agentic traders or advisors, and many are building agentic payments rails for the looming agentic economy, where bots are likely to interact and transact with other bots at inhuman scales.
OKX argues its new platform is “unique” in that it features “shared identity” for AI agents. Every AI agent has a single persistent identity that accumulates reputation across all work — from instant micropayments to complex agent-to-agent (A2A) escrow-based projects — regardless of payment type or task complexity, the announcement notes.
"Most existing platforms support only one payment mode, or they split different workflows across separate systems with no common reputation layer. On OKX AI, reputation accumulates in one place regardless of how the work was completed or how it was paid for," the announcement reads.
According to the announcement, AltLayer, Amazon Web Services (AWS), CertiK, DAPPOS, Ethereum Foundation, Opentensor Foundation, the Solana Foundation, and StraitsX are supporting the launch of OKX AI.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
